Troy Buckley last season spent a lot of time reminding the whopping 14 freshmen on the team to have fun.

Earlier this week, he reminded them again that baseball should be fun – but the best way to have fun is to win, and that everyone should be sure of what the team’s goals are in 2012.

Those are to win games, win the Big West Conference title, earn a trip to the postseason for the first time since 2008, and put the Dirtbag name back in good standing nationally.

“I believe they’re ready for it,” Buckley said from his office at Blair Field this week as his team prepared for Friday’s season opener at Blair against Virginia Commonwealth (6:30 p.m.) “Much more so than last year, when we had to play a lot of games to determine if we could do the things necessary to win.

“A year’s experience gives the guys the ability to know what has to be done, and hopefully sent a message to everyone internally. Last year, the coaches would say things and the kids would nod and say `we get it.’ But they didn’t have the experience yet for it to resonate.”

Experience isn’t the issue in 2012. The Dirtbags will break in only two new players in the everyday lineup and eight returning pitchers are the nucleus of a 13-man staff that Buckley says he will use extensively.

The Dirtbags were 29-27 last year and there were a dozen different ways to look at their performance.

They went 13-4 in one-run games and 6-0 when playing extra innings.

They won a dozen games against ranked opponents while playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation. After being no-hit in the first game of the UC Irvine series, they came back to win the last two games of the season’s final series against a team that came one out away from the College World Series.

Those were the highlights.

The lowlights included being held to two runs or less in a whopping 25 games, being shutout six times and limited to a run 10 more. They were so anemic at times that staff ace Andrew Gagnon had a 2.81 ERA but was just 4-10. Five of the six shutout losses came on Friday night games Gagnon started, and his teammates scored three runs or less in all but two of his 15 starts. When the 49ers did lose, they were often pummeled, dropping 17 of their 27 losses by four runs or more.

At year’s end, there were seven games that stood out as the difference between 29-27 and perhaps a postseason bid.

They blew late leads in losses to Stanford, Pacific and UC Santa Barbara; came back from a 9-0 deficit against Cal State Fullerton to lead 11-9, only to lose 14-12; and dropped two games at home to a UC Davis team that came in with a 5-18 record. They also had losses to UC Riverside and Cal State Northridge; they lost more games (seven) to teams that finished below them in the Big West standings than to the three teams ahead of them (five).

Buckley expects more consistency this season.

“Last year we were trying to find our identity, where they were, what their level was mentally and if they could play at this level,” he said. “This year, we don’t want high highs or low lows like we had a year ago.

“We’re deep. We have 13 pitchers I’m confident in and I plan to use them liberally, and we’ll be deeper in the lineup than we were last year, which I think you’ll see with more production from the bottom.

“We’re extremely versatile and balanced.”

Of the newcomers, three stand out – freshman outfielder Richard Prigatano, a powerful 6-foot-3 slugger; right-handed pitcher Matt Anderson, a JC transfer who has won a spot in the rotation; and infielder Robert Vickers, a left-handed JC transfer who can play both corner infield positions.

Two left-handed pitchers, freshman Nick Sabo and junior transfer Landon Hunt, and right-handed freshman Edgar Gomez could work their way into important positions.

“Everyone feels a lot more confident,” senior center fielder Brennan Metzger said. “I look at Royce and he’s just catching unbelievable. It’s like night and day for him. He’s really come into himself.

“The one thing I can say for sure is that this team will compete, no matter what situation we face.”

“We did well for having so many new faces last year,” shortstop Matt Duffy said. “But that was a building year. It’s no longer `here’s what you did well.’

“There were many games last season where one play made the difference in a game.”

The Dirtbags want to be the team making those winning plays in 2012.

The team’s schedule this year isn’t as onerous as it was a year ago.

The Dirtbags played 17 ranked teams before Big West play, and while they held their own, the fatigue factor hit the freshmen randomly the second half of the season.

This year, there are only two early series against ranked teams, Arizona State (No. 17) and Fullerton (25), plus a date at UCLA. Cal and Oregon are on the schedule but have lost key players from last year. Stanford (No.2), Arizona (No. 5) and Oregon State (No. 23) have been replaced by Virginia Commonwealth, Wichita State and Loyola Marymount.

That will cost the Dirtbags some RPI strength, but this is a season in which the team’s ultimate worth, and need, will be its won-loss record.

A closer look at the Dirtbags, position by position …

Catcher: Reedy Royce Murai, a true freshman in 2011 who pitched most of his high school career, was forced behind the plate because of an injury. By year’s end, Murai had proven more than capable defensively. He threw out nine of 38 runners, made just two errors, had just seven passed balls, and pitchers became comfortable with him behind the plate. He hit just .231, but he played through injuries and fatigue. Kellen Hoime (.234 career average), back for a senior redshirt season after a back injury sidelined him in 2011, is a team leader and has a great throwing arm. They will split time at least until one or the other earns more playing time. Bench: Senior Juan Favela, freshman Scott Mitchell.

First base: Five-foot-11, 190-pound Ino Patron had the best swing of the 2011 freshmen, and he hit .277 with 24 RBIs. His numbers were better until fatigue caught up with him in May. He will be in the lineup daily either at first or at DH. Former Lakewood High star Jeff Yamaguchi (.263), a right-handed hitter, and junior transfer Robert Vickers, a lefty, could be part of a platoon either at first or DH. Yamaguchi (6-2, 190) has tremendous promise but needs to be more patient at the plate; he struck out a third of the time last year. Vickers has the second-best bat of the newcomers.

Second base: Jeff McNeil was the scrawniest, youngest looking freshman you’d ever seen last year, but he hit .271 and was deadly at little ball, beating out a dozen bunts or well-placed grounders and dropping 15 sacrifice bunts. He’s gained some size, moves from the outfield to second, his natural position, and should occupy the No. 2 spot in the lineup again. Bench: Redshirt freshman Erik Lewis, soph transfer Colton Vaughn.

Third base: If you had to put a question mark anywhere on the field, it would be third. Left-handed hitter Michael Hill (.200) was injured to start 2011 and struggled defensively, but he’s made strides in the offseason and will open as part of platoon with right-hander Juan Avila. The senior (.245, team-high .396 slugging) was streaky at the plate and had adventures in right field, but he was an infielder in high school and definitely has a third baseman’s arm. He has too much potential hitting to not get an opportunity to start. Bench: Junior transfer Zach Miller.

Shortstop: Matt Duffy (.266) played second efficiently for two years and now moves to his natural position. He hit third much of the year despite a lack of power (57 hits, 52 of them singles) because he makes contact, and he led the team in RBIs with 31. He continued his stellar play in the Cape Cod League last summer. Bench: freshman Chaz Meadows.

Left field: Freshman Richard Prigatano is the pivotal newcomer, a 6-3, 200-pound high school slugger who has made Baseball America’s list of the Top 50 freshmen. He has gap power and doesn’t get cheated at the plate; he could be the program’s best hitter since Shane Peterson in 2008. Against right-handers, soph Johnny Bekakis (.241) will get first shot at playing time and Prigatano will move to right field. Bekakis can also play several infield spots. Bench: Left-handed hitter Brennan Fulkerson (.250).

Center field: Brennan Metzger has ample incentive for a great senior season. He hit .267 with 31 runs scored, 13 doubles, 11 steals and a .371 on-base percentage, and he’s superb defensively. He wasn’t drafted and chose to return for a senior season rather than sign a free agent deal. When he isn’t trying to pull the ball, he’s a consistent threat. Bench: Freshman Josh Guerra.

Right field: Avila and Prigatano will move to right field when they’re not playing third or left, respectively. Bench: freshman Zach Belanger, a 6-4 left-handed hitter with big upside, right-handed senior Jonathan Kim (.235).

Designated hitter: If Patron isn’t playing first, he’ll be the DH. Vickers and Yamaguichi are also candidates. Kim (.235) had some big hits off the bench last season and could earn playing time.

Rotation: For the first time in more than a decade, the Dirtbags do not start the season with a high-profile or well-experienced arm in the No. 1 spot in the rotation. Senior Shawn Stuart pitched well as the No. 3 starter and was 4-4 with a 3.16 ERA, with wins over Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA and UC Irvine, but he was on low pitch counts after some shoulder stiffness at midseason. He definitely has ace size (6-3, 210). Junior transfer Matt Anderson won a job in fall drills. He’s efficient and has good control. Ryan Strufing’s (3-2, 4.70) freshman season was a mixed bag, but he gives the Dirtbags a left-hander in the rotation to start the season. Buckley didn’t have a regular midweek starter last season and has no plans for one at the moment, preferring to see what pitchers he uses on the weekend and then going with the most rested arm or a relay team on Tuesdays.

Bullpen: Eddie Magallon (3.62 ERA, nine saves) is a gamer and who returns for a junior season primed for his best season as the closer, with Josh Frye (1.72) the backup or eighth-inning setup man. There are eight other options here or as a part-time starter: three left-handers in freshmen Nick Sabo and Landon Hunt and soph left-hander Jake Stassi (.350, 0-1), who can also play outfield; and five right-handers – soph Jon Maciel (1.25, 0-1, .211 opponents average), senior Matt Johnson (4.31, 5-1), soph Kyle Friedrichs (3.99, 4-2) and freshmen Edgar Gomez and Ty Provencher. Buckley is high on the left-handed frosh, as well as Gomez and returnees Maciel and Johnson, who had some shining moments in 2011.

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